FTSE 100 chairmen cheer third runway for Heathrow Airport

Marion Dakers is deputy news editor and covers the transport and professional services beat.

Marion Dakers

POLITICIANS might remain divided over the thorny problem of expanding Heathrow, but a survey of FTSE 100 chairmen suggests that big businesses would welcome a third runway.

A survey of around 30 of Britain’s most powerful chairmen showed that more than two thirds would support an extra runway, though there was also support for a completely new airport in the Korn/Ferry research.

Just under half of those surveyed also complained that the behaviour of UK banks has permanently damaged London’s standing as a financial centre.

Controversy over Heathrow’s future was also stoked at the weekend by a study claiming that a third runway would cause 10 more early deaths a year from aviation pollution in the UK.

Researchers at US university MIT said the only scenario that would reduce such deaths by 2030 is a new hub in the Thames Estuary, as proposed by Mayor Boris Johnson, due to its distance from London and prevailing winds.

The coalition has commissioned its own research into the future of UK air travel, due to report in 2015.